Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1887-08-17

| bcFlmmaSc, OUT nc was OF llltle use tO
me in such bad ground. When ] had
finished with the horse saw. that my
carbine was in order, pulled my re-
volver around within handy reach.
and walked forward to get shot at
the still sleeping lions. There was
nothing brave in this. l was simply
greenhorn. and didn't know better
than to take the chances. / knew /
was good shot, and l knew had
nerve. and felt that could best the
pair no matter what course they took.
II was very sultry morning, and the
shade Of the bushes was so grateful
that the lions had fallen into a deep
sleep. And why should they have felt
any fearsp In all that region the lion
was king. His roar sent every other
beast to cover, and his growl was
menace to be needed and respected. I
walked up to within thirty feet
Of the pair, and still they did
not hear me nor change position.
could not get such shot
as hunter desires. but was bent on
having one. The male was nearest to
me. He was curled up so that he re-
sembled great ball of hair, and
drew bead on the center of the mass,
knowing that must hit him. and that
the bullet would give him bad hurt.
Now, what followed the shot filled
me with astonishment and wonder.
Quicker than flash the lion was on his
feet, and frightful roar from his
throat blended with the report of the
gun. There was q snarl from the
and then, without seeming to have seen
| me, OF to have ascertained what had
happened. the lion ran down the strip
of open ground, while his mate broke
| for the woods. That he was hard hit
/ could tell by his gait. That she was
as ratified as a rabit was easy to see by
the way she dragged her tail as she
ran. had expected fight and was
disappointed. The male bounded over
the broken ground for about eighty
rods and then went to cover in bush.
and after the female rushed into the
wood gave her no further attention.
While / realized that q wounded lion
was dangerous foe, the cowardly con-
duct of this fellow in Sinking away as
he had done emboldened me, and l
started in pursuit. l expected every
minute to see him leave the bush
and bolt for the forest, but he had diff
ferent plans. When was half way to
him turned out of the direct course to
cut him off in case he wanted to re-
treat kept on advancing until was
not more than ten rods from the BUSH
He was so we'll hidden that / could
see nothing of him, even when search
ed with the glass. A random shot
ought to scare him up and l fired for
the center of the bush.
1t wasn't three seconds after pulled
trigger before the lion was coming for
me full tilt, his eyes blazing, his teeth
showing and his tail lashing the air
like that of mad bull. In such
emergencies one does not stop to think.
Nor can one aftcrward remember just
what took place. All know is that i
less than forty feet away, and that his
momentum brought him almost to my
feet. He had ceased kicking in ten
seconds, for there was hole above his
eyes into which baby could have
thrust ITS fist, and he had been griev-
ously wounded by the other shot. He
was a grand. big fellow, in the full
prime of life, and whom came to OK
anime his limbs was astonished mt the
tremendous muscular power. l had
my foot on him when heard shouts
and shots and terrible scream
from my horse, and 1
wheeled around to see him galloping
down to the edge of the desert with
the lioness fairly in the saddle and
using her teeth on his neck. His
screams were somewhat appalling.
Near the spot where he had been tied
were two of my friends on horseback.
They had witnessed part of my adj
ventures through the glass, and had
saddled up as fast rs possible. While
they were yet hundred rods from my
horse the lioness had come out of the
woods full of defiance and revenge.
and had made straight for the horse.
They fired their. guns and waved their
hats and shouted, but she would not
turn from her course. AS she sprang
upon him the horse broke away, and
it was plain to us that she would kill
him before she left him. The two
hunters rode up to me, and we opened
fire on horse ond lioness. The horse
did not run straight out upon tho
desert, but rushed wildly up and down
along its edge, and the beast tore
great pieces of flesh off his neck as he
rushed. One Of our bullets hit her,
and another brought the horse down
just as he was opposite us.
He came down all in heap,
fell over on his side with
long-drawn groan, and the lioness
placed her claws on his body, and stood
there growing at us and showing her
teeth in savage manner. She GER
tainly had more pluck than the lion.
"Look out for herr' cried my COM
rades in chorus, but tho advice was
useless. Idon't know that the beast
saw them at all. She seemed to have
eyes only for me, perhaps because
was on foot. was, indeed, the only
one she need fear, for the horses of my
companions were so restless that they
threatened with every move to unseat
their riders, and after two or three
minutes bolted in spite of rein and spur
and made for camp. have often
wished for photograph of tho lioness
as she stood there over the dead horse
head up, lips drawn, eyes flashing,
tail switching, and such warning in
her low growing as would try any
mans nerve. l had tumbled her mate
over with a good shot, and felt not the
least fear of this beast stood for